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Sunday, 21 July 2013

I finally got that Mantic Raptor Rig finished for my Trogs/Orks. I still need to paint the gunner. The plan is to base him and keep him loose. Then I can use the trike for other wasteland gangs. As you can see this rig is being manned by a EM4 Scavenger. I chose an matt black scabby/rusty paint scheme for the Raptor Trike. This is to be the colour scheme for my new Trogs/Ork/Orx Tribe. Something that reflects little old me....matt black and rust obsessed. lol.

Again I left the mudguards/fenders off. I have a old Rat Rod obsession and I love naked wheels on vehicles. I like these vehicles as the weapon is removable so it can be used as a "civilian" vehicle or racer as well. I can see a bunch of these racing across the wastes in the colours of their tribes....I think I am talking myself into a version of Gorkamorka here!! lol.

The Enforcers are the police of Utopia city. Unlike the Mags the Enforcers are drawn from the ranks of the city and is one of the few paying jobs available in the city. They get two years training and then go out on the street with a years probation as a Rookie. Enforcers are well armed and trained, they try to keep order. When arrests are made they are shipped to the halls of justice and sentence is passed by a Magistrate (usually an older or injured Mag unable to take to the streets).Often the Enforcers deal with the mundane policing duties such as traffic, parking, routine patrols, clean ups or security. Enforcers will often support any Mags in the area. Sometimes a Mag will lead a group of Enforcers. The city is a dangerous place and they go heavily armed. Enforcers are not made of the stuff that the Mag's are made from. Many are weak and a few corrupt.

Those of you used to hanging around various Wargames forums will be familiar with a guy known as Damfpanzerwagon or as he is also known Tony Harwood. Tony Harwood produces some very nice looking wargames terrain and tutorials. This has lead to the production of a book about how to produce Wargames Terrain.

The book is 96 pages of full colour pictures and step by step guides on how to make terrain. It is mostly Fantasy and Historical based but I am sure much of the terrain could be tweaked into 40K or other games.

The guides are very good and are aimed at beginners. However as a terrain maker I must say that I found some tips and ideas in the book I had never thought of. Nice one Tony!

Black Ronin Games manufacture a varitey of high quality printable terrain and floor tiles for wargames and RPGs. The files are in PDF format and either have to be purchased or are free (yippeee). They cover everything from Fantasy to Sci-Fi and everything in between. There is 15-18mm printable buildings, 28mm vehicles, door windows, streets....the list goes on and on.

All they are missing is 28mm Vault/Bunker tiles (hint hint). While I plan to make a star ship set of tiles similar to my tunnels it would help a lot not to have to make the floor tiles. Black Ronin's Sci-Fi tiles will do the job nicely. But thats in the future....

In addition to all this printable goodness Black Ronin have a list of Blogs (including this hallowed post apocalyptic page) and miniatures painters.

Sunday, 7 July 2013

I have been getting my geek on and decided that a map of the legendary abandoned world left to die would be handy - rather than walking about with it inside my head. So here is mattblackgod's world as mapped by Utopia City drones....

As you can see there is plenty of places for me to add new ideas too (or pinch from wherever lol) You can see the mega city on the bottom of the continent Rosstraila. Recent seismic disturbances (probalby caused by the second orbital nuke bombardment) have lowered sea levels while pushing up the sea floor in a few places. Britannia Island is now linked to Eru and the main continent. These two land bridges are dangerous as they are only passible for a couple of hours a day. This can lead to travellers becoming stranded on the small islands for a day or being drown. Or eaten by the nasty mutant beasts that live in the seas.

With a view to adding some fast attack options to my Trogs, which are a mix of GW Space Ork figures from the late 80's onwards which I use as genetically engineered warriors I looked at the Mantic Raptor (I also have some Marauders/Orx to mix and match with the figures but more on those some time in the future). In case you don't know the Raptor is a armoured Trike the Orx use as a fast attack option in Warpath. I chose this as it was different and cheap compared to the GW options (sorry GW your pricing policy is losing you custom!!). This is what you get in the kit....

It is cast from the same plastic resin as the figures and has a high amount of detail. My kit had no dips, holes or air bubbles to fill unlike some of the resin & plastic kits I have had before. There was vert little flash to clean off.

The kit is easy to assemble which was fun unlike some Wargames model manufacturers who seem to be adding levels of difficulty to their kits only seen by military modellers. The whole assembly only took a few minutes.

The only gripe I have is that one of the front forks/legs did not fit nicely making the front wheel twist. This was fixed with a little filling with Green Stuff putty. Not a big pain and its not like I have had to do a lot more of it with other kits such as GW Landraiders/Chimera.

Here it is assembled (please forgive the paint, it is still WIP) ....

I left the mudguards off as I have a thing for naked wheels. I must have been a hot-rodder in a former life! lol The gunner has not been attached yet. I intend to keep him loose so I can use the Raptor trike as a vehicle for my Wastelanders too.

You can see the Raptor sizes up nicely with the old 40K Rogue Trader Era Orks. The rocket launcher is removable so if I got another I can fit other weapons such as machine guns. Pictures of the finished vehicle when the paint is finished.

In summary the Raptor is a nicely cast, detailed kit. Easy to assemble with only minimum fuss and it sizes well with older GW figures. I look forward to buying the larger carriers and four wheeled Marauder vehicles in the future.

I have been in love with Space Orks since I first played 40K Rouge Trader back in the late 80's. In my setting they operate as Trogz which are a group of genetically engineered warriors that escaped and now thrive on Matt Black God's world. It is also an exuse to re-use my old Orks from that era. :-) Recently I have been inspired to get some vehicles together for my Trogz forces. The plan is simple. Add one or two fast attack vehicles per tribe and a transporter or two for the boyz. Then maybe some hard hitting fighting vehicles at a later date (my collection of Post Apoc models will supply a few of these). So far I have managed to add some fast attack vehicles and a transport. Who know's maybe one day they may pose a threat to Utopia City?? So lets get into starting positions....First up is the Blue Skulls Tribe that are based in Pictsieland...

Both are older GW 40K Orks vehicles from Gorkamorka. The War Trak has been around for a while but the Truk was found in the bits from ebay pile awaiting work. The Boys will need another transport for the whole mob. Next up - The Blood Axes Tribe. The Blood Axes are mercenaries and are inspired by human military fashions. They do work out in the wastes for both Utopia and Liberty Cities.

The Vehicle is a Buggy from Ramshackle Games Nuclear Renaissance line. The look of these post apocalyptic models is great and suits the Trog/Ork mentality. Again its one I have had a few years. I have added some old plastic Ork Bolt guns to it ala the old Dark Future Renegade Cars. You cant see it in this picture but I lost the exhaust at some point so I added a new one from bits at the back. There is also a jerry can from a 1/35 tank kit fitted to the rear mudgaurd. This buggy is painted in the usual camo style the Blood Axes like.And finally (for this update) there is the Red Suns Tribe who operate in the Eastern Wastes. They have a shiney new (?) (Red!!) buggy. Again this is a old 40K GW plastic buggy.

The red sun on the front armour is hand painted. I think it turned out well for a first attempt.

Its been a while since my last update. Real life keeps getting in the way of hobby time. Time for a catch up. Here is a little something for my urban terrain. What is is? A bit of modern art? Or maybe the a statue at a casino or wargamers club? Maybe it is a place of worship for those trying to win favour with the Dice Gods?

(figure is a Copplestone Castings Near Future Copper - half painted)All this is a keyring (keychain) and a cork bottle stopper. I removed the chain and pushed the retention ring into a hole I made in the cork stopper then hot glued it up. A splash of paint and hey presto! Simple quick easy terrain.